


darning the holes in this well-worn love

by loseyoutoloveme



Series: one sunny hill, meant for two [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Politics, F/M, Fate, Friends to Lovers, Politics, Unrequited Love, basically if u haven't read the original go read it first lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:41:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28640190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loseyoutoloveme/pseuds/loseyoutoloveme
Summary: as it goes, even the most reliable of socks will need a patch from time to time. here, too many exalted tales are left to be told - a gold ring and a matching dress. a promised future, surrounded in green grass and the brightest white flowers. two families, bound to each other by the crossroads of history. and a pair of hearts, loaded with nothing but fateful intention.(missing moments from stitch your heart upon the blossom of mine)
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Reader, Mark Lee (NCT)/Reader, Nakamoto Yuta/Reader, Suh Youngho | Johnny/Reader
Series: one sunny hill, meant for two [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2098815
Comments: 14
Kudos: 28





	darning the holes in this well-worn love

**Author's Note:**

> well i just couldn't stay away. welcome to the (as promised!) deleted scenes bonus fic for stitch your heart. 
> 
> i wanted to start by saying a huge thank you to everyone who read/commented/kudosed the story and then voted in the poll that determined what i was going to write. i think i expressed a lot of this in my replies but i am truly so grateful for all the (cliche) love and support that i got. hopefully these little snippets will appease your curiosity for the little hidden moments that didn't make it in the big story. some will be short and some will be longer but i really think this is going to be a fun collection of additions to the narrative. i don't think i'm going to do a song for each chapter like i did in the og, but if i feel particularly inclined i may include one or two! and again, i will not be posting these on any sort of schedule, just when the inspiration strikes. 
> 
> and a new hello to people who are just seeing this for the first time! if you have not read stitch your heart upon the blossom of mine, i would recommend you do so because you will probably be lost without it hehe. if i'm allowed to brag about myself i'd say it's worth the read! ;)

When Jeno sees that it’s not the Mercedes that’s pulled up to the curb after practice, he lets out a groan so loud that Mrs. Na actually hears and glances over in confusion. With an errant wave to his best friend’s mom, he picks up his duffel and makes his way over to the vehicle with no further grumbling. He's not trying to risk any more strange looks from those who might overhear his displeasure. He flops down ungracefully into the passenger side seat and will self admit that slamming the door is a bit too childish for his mood.  He hopes for a second that Jaehyun won’t pick up on it. But he’s known Jeno since he was born, he could probably pick up on the strange behavior from a mile away.

“Could you look any less excited that I’m here to drive you home?” Jaehyun scoffs, not mad but rather, entertained.

On purpose, Jeno deepens his frown, pouting behind the fringe of black hair under his cap in an effort to be as petulant as possible. You’d specifically said at dinner the night before that you’d be there to pick him up, and you’re nowhere in sight, not even in the back seat of the car. To sell the effort, he crosses his arms over his chest and picks up an annoyed tone, “Y/n promised she was going throw for me at the batting cages today.”

“Sorry, kid,” Jaehyun apologizes as Jeno takes that moment to look out the window in a display of angst. “She got in the zone working on her dress for Changmin’s thing and asked me to come get you.”

He seems too familiar with your schedule in saying that. Like, not even Mark knows the day to day business of your life when you're (rarely) apart. But here Jaehyun is, no consequence to him to know exactly what you were doing. Jeno peers at his brother’s friend through the mirror and is intrigued to see this small smile done up on Jaehyun’s face, as if he’s thinking of something specific.

“You were with her?” Jeno prods, then twists his clarification to reveal something he’d noticed as of late. “You’re always together now.”

And that’s no exaggeration. More often than not you’ve been showing up to family dinners at the mansion with Jaehyun in tow. Whenever Jeno sleeps over in your guest bedrooms to escape the nagging call of his dad to finish homework, Jaehyun is always on your couch, beer in hand. It’s a lot.

“Uh, yeah?” Jaehyun answers right away, a little confused. “We _are_ neighbors.”

“Riiiiight. And I’m a famous baseball player,” Jeno mutters under his breath, not believing the _neighbor_ moniker whatsoever. He’s seen how Johnny and Yuta, and to some extent, Mark, act around you — there’s no way Jaehyun isn’t the same. They’re four peas in a pod.

“What?”

“Nothing!” Jeno quickly chirps, not wanting to get called out for an accusation he can’t back up. Luckily, his stomach rumbles at the exact time, giving him the perfect excuse to get out of it. “Can we go to the mall? I’m starving.”

He gets the big brother reminder he doesn’t want in return, “Yunho is going to kill you if you don’t eat Felix’s dinner yet again.” Which he supposes is warranted, because he’s skipped out on family dinner the past week to keep practicing his fastball. Luckily for him, Jaehyun is not his family butler, and is still more a bro than a brother, because he caves soon after, “But fine. Let’s go.”

“Thank you! Felix has god’s menu at his fingertips, but he cannot make those soft pretzels, you know the ones with the cinnamon sugar?”

“Are you sure you can be a varsity athlete and eat that?”

Jeno’s nose wrinkles at the reminder that he’s soon going to have to go on his conditioning diet to prepare for the season. No indulging, no bathing his popcorn in butter. It’s fine, but he doesn’t want to get ahead of himself and lose out on the satisfaction of that sweet, sweet goodness. And not like Jaehyun can be on his high horse about it, considering he’s probably the pinnacle of envy for the male body specimen without even trying. 

“Just because you have like two percent body fat,” Jeno grumbles, to prove his point.But he can’t help the total change in emotion that comes right away, after the news he’d gotten in practice. He just has to tell someone, which is mostly why he’d been waiting for you to pick him up. He’d wanted you or Mark to be the first to hear, but Jaehyun is more than a good enough second alternative,“I’m fine. Coach says if my training goes well, I’ll be the first starter in the spring.”

In his excitement, Jaehyun nearly skids the car right off the highway during his turn to the mall, and his voice crackles in joy, “Whoa! As a sophomore? That’s great, No!”

Despite the irritation at the old nickname he feels like he’s more than outgrown, a firework burst of accomplishment explodes right in the middle of Jeno’s chest. First starters were nearly always seniors, the ace of the program who was unhittable, who planned to be a professional after graduation. For Jeno to be penciled in for that role as a sophomore, really, he feels like he'll never get off this high. He’s worked countless hours for this, years of hard work and grit, injuries and sweat and more blisters than he can count. The MLB in America so close he can practically taste it. 

“Dad already requested time off of work for the first game because he was that sure I'd be the rotation ace,” Jeno chuckles as he tells Jaehyun this. His dad doesn’t even know the news yet, but he’d placed his wagers on it happening anyways. Typical. 

“We’ll make sure everyone is there, kid. We wouldn’t think of missing it,” Jaehyun sighs with pride, reaching over to dap Jeno’s cap’s brim. 

He’s definitely telling the truth with that one. Johnny, Yuta, Mark, and Jaehyun are going to be behind home plate without a doubt, will probably fight some dads just to get there first. And Jeno just knows you’re going to be absolutely obnoxious about it, will show up to the high school field with a huge picture of his face, will down hot dogs like it's nobody's business and cuss out the opposing team with true abandon. 

The inside of the Neozone City Mall is lined with holly garlands and fake snow, surrounding the massive Christmas tree they have propped up in the center of the building. With the twinkling lights draped from the ceilings and the carols playing, Jeno is braided together with the same two strands of emotions that always brew come Christmastime. There’s the inherent delight - that even though it’s only halfway through November, he can smell the holiday cheer in the air, he’ll go home and Felix will have a cup of peppermint hot chocolate waiting, and you also promised you’d help him bake cookies to hand out to his friends and classmates. 

What comes next, weighty and leadened, is the snowdrop of sadness he can never quite escape. It goes beyond how he still hasn't quite gotten over his dad nearly dying out in the Elyxion woods. No, he's unbelievably grateful that the family will be complete for the holidays. But that's just it, it's not fully complete. The delight is genetic, because Christmas was always his mom’s favorite. It’s not the same without her laughter floating through the mansion, without the vague memory of her chasing his dad around with a mistletoe in hand. That’s why he puts it up every year. He knows she’d just love it.

It also reminds him of his and Mark’s most recent discussion and the question he has to ask, “Have you gone Christmas shopping yet?”

Jaehyun’s totally wrapped up in his phone, wearing that tiny smile from before. He doesn’t catch the question at first, “Huh? Oh, not yet. The bicentennial is coming up, I’m trying not to think about it until after.”

He rolls his eyes, a _you know how it is_ gesture, and Jeno does know. His dad has been stuck behind a desk for most of the past week, trying to write a speech that will celebrate Dorado’s storied history, muttering about regional relations and trying to appease both sides. Regent Jung has most likely been doing the same. Jeno is convinced all his dad has to do is show up on TV and it’d be a spectacle. The news reports have not slowed down reporting on all the work he’s been doing in the aftermath of the bombing, but Jeno just doesn’t want his dad to get too tired. His foot is still in a cast, and the cuts on his face have barely healed. Almost nobody knows what he went through in the woods, and Jeno never wants them to.

“What do you want?” Jaehyun asks, as soon as they get to the pretzel shop. 

“One cinnamon pretzel, and a thing of icing, thank you.”

Jaehyun takes his card out right away to make the point he’s going to be paying. Jeno knows he doesn’t have to protest or make a show of pulling out his wallet, Jaehyun will literally not have it. He's not once, not ever, probably will never let his best friend’s little brother pay for a thing. Jeno won't cop to it if he's asked, but this sort of thing is why Jaehyun has always been the best of Mark’s friends. He’s too nice. 

Once the order is in, and they’ve stood there for a few more minutes in comfortable silence - Jaehyun once again occupied with something on his phone - Jeno remembers why he’d asked the question in the first place. He re-routes to the old conversation, “I only asked because Mark and I are going to make a tandem gift for y/n this year. We don’t want to ask Dad for money or overlap with you fools.”  Jeno is fairly sure his genius plan can't be topped, but he just wants to make sure. Mark had insisted the gift be tandem because he was so obsessed with the idea, but Jeno is going to make sure you know it’s from him. 

Jaehyun shrugs, fingers tapping against his phone as he thinks for a second, then admits, “I don’t know, I’m kind of stuck. Everything I've thought of is super lame, especially taking into account what she’s probably going to make for us. She handmade us those Bats flags last year, remember?”

“I know. That thing is still in my room, and it’s better quality than the one I actually got from the stadium," Jeno agrees, actually more than excited to find out what you’re going to make him this year. You promised it would specifically help him snag the ladies, and you never went back on your promises.

Nobody gives better gifts than you do. Jeno still uses your backpack, embossed with his family sigil, on all of his baseball road trips. The flag, an exact replica of the official ones they sell at the stadium, is hanging above his bed at the mansion. And of course, amongst the shirts and sweaters you’ve made for him, are his favorite of all time - the lucky Conan socks. He does feel kind of bad he’d freaked out on you because of the fact that he always got questions at school about his clothes. He’d regretted it right away, because he’d only ever wanted to show your stuff off with pride. But sometimes it was hard for Jeno to feel like the only reason people wanted to be friends with him was just so they could get a shirt or a scarf.

But you hadn’t been mad at his admission and… well, that was why you were his favorite. You were everyone’s favorite, truth be told, but some of these boys have truly lost it. He’s known you for more than five years now and there hasn’t been a moment where someone hadn’t had a crush on you. Johnny was the first, and the most obvious, but Yuta was never as subtle as he thought he was being with how much he liked you. Neither was Mark, for the brief slip of time he had a crush in high school. To top it off, Jeno had just sat through an entire practice listening to Jaemin and Chenle make their plans for what they were going to do if the team won the high school baseball championship in the spring.

“All I have right now is getting a hat that Taeil signed. I saw one on eBay the other day. She’d like that for sure," Jaehyun says, confident with his choice, because it _is_ the kind of thing that you’d like. 

But if he, technically only your friend's little brother, was able to come up with a stunning, heartfelt gift, Jaehyun can't be settling with some unsatisfactory, material crap. Jeno has no choice but to groan in response, “You’re right, that is really lame.”

Jaehyun retorts with no pause, sassy to no end in defending his decision, “That is not a lame gift!”

The right thing to do here would be to soften, to agree with Jaehyun without actually doing so, to move on and let it go. But Jeno is curious about something.  He keeps it casual, not too high or low with his emotion, like he’s just discussing baseball facts with his brother’s oldest friend, when he drops the bomb, “It is when I tell you that Johnny is getting this fancy electric sewing machine imported just for her. It has a touch screen.”

That's not true at all, Jeno already knows that Johnny has ordered you a glass shadowbox display, so you can have a place to put all your Bats memorabilia. This is a planned deception.

Jaehyun is not the kind of guy to panic, to let the emotion seep through on his face, to have a blatant and obvious kind of reaction that will be fantastically easy to read. But he has a duo of panic tells that do not go unnoticed by a long time friend. The first, his hand does an errant sweep through his bangs, like he’s trying to physically walk himself back from some kind of mental ledge that he’s on. The second is a combined gesture, the slight clench of his phone in his hands with his golden eyes flicking down to the still illuminated screen. Jeno can’t help but follow the path the they take, and in doing so, finally gets a peek at what’s been taking up Jaehyun's attention the past hour.

It’s a text conversation, but that’s not what is notable about the discovery. It’s the contact name at the top, little letters spelling out **my favorite neighbor** , complete with a winking emoji right at the end.

Right, and Jeno’s a famous baseball player.

So, the truth of the matter is, yes, you were everyone’s favorite. But until now, Jeno had no clue he was supposed to be including Jaehyun as a part of everyone. You and he had always been friends, had been closer to best friends than not, actually. The five of you older kids were close, but you and Jaehyun (with Mark!) were always the little nucleus within the pod. Jeno figured that was due to your living proximity and the fact you two had very similar personalities - friendly and polite at first glance, crude and hilarious when in your comfort zone. No matter how many times the others tried to snag your heart, you’d never cracked, and Jeno never saw Jaehyun make a fool of himself like the others did in trying to snare your attention. 

Yet, now that Jeno has this kind of hindsight, maybe he’d been wrong. His science teacher says he should always look at the facts first, so here goes. There’s the time you spend together, plus Jaehyun is always doing you small favors like he did today in picking Jeno up from baseball. His shirt requests always turn out just a bit more extravagant than the others' because he likes to push your buttons, and there is not an event you attend that Jaehyun does not insist on getting a picture of just you with him. Those are all facts. But if Jeno goes by the simplest truth he can, it boils down to this. In his phone, Yuta only has you saved as **y/n** , the plainspoken personality of his shining through in his contact naming. Johnny has you down as **ms. y/l/n** , something he’d found cheeky, like you were the other half of a sexy spy duo with him. Mark’s contact for you is **bee** , the obnoxious duo nickname you’ve had since the start.

You’re Jaehyun’s only neighbor, Jeno supposes it is tongue-in-cheek for the contact name to refer to you as the favorite one. But something about that _my_ in _my favorite neighbor_ sticks in his brain. Jaemin had started the obnoxious habit of calling his new girlfriend _my cutie girl_. Jeno really hates it, he doesn't know why they're already so gross so soon.

He's never seen Jaehyun act that way around you. That can't be going on here, there's no way.

—

“You’re right, I guess that is lame in comparison.” Jaehyun gulps thickly, feeling the bite of his phone into his skin as he palms it tight. 

_Johnny’s getting her a sewing machine? He didn’t say anything about that._

He glances around the mall, in a lame attempt to garner some kind of inspiration from the stores that are in his proximity. There’s the luggage shop, a men’s shoe store, a place that only sells egregiously smelly candles…. and the custom jewelry shop right across the corridor. He feels the immediate flush creeping up on his neck, followed by the relieving gratitude he’d had the sense to wear one of your handmade scarves today with his grey sweater. Jaehyun blankly mutters to the teen before walking away, “Wait for the pretzels, I’ll be right back.”

Is he really doing this?

He glances down at his sneakers and they are indeed marching him right over to the shop before there’s even a response. That’s not the point, though, that’s not the point at all. Johnny is really getting you a high end sewing machine? You’d mentioned that offhand only once, how it might be fun to start learning how to make shirts of your own instead of just buying them to embroider, and that you'd need to finally buy a sewing machine for that. Johnny had really remembered? And then decided to buy something fantastically expensive just to fulfill that request?

Jaehyun has always known Johnny’s liked you. His best friend would never shut the fuck up about it, _o_ _h y/n is this, oh y/n is that._ And it’s not like Jaehyun is particularly ignorant about it. He knows. He was probably the first to know every little thing about you. The manner in which you like to pin up your hair so it didn't get in your face while you were sewing, how you tuck your feet under the flap of the rug in his car to keep them warm, the cotton candy pink your cheeks get when you get particularly heated about a bad call during a baseball game. He gets it, okay? 

But while he might know every little thing about you, he’s never been able to figure out if you like Johnny in return. Or if you get flustered when Yuta fixes you with a particularly longing stare. Or if your friendship with Mark has ever gone deeper than what it seems. But the worst kind of niggling, digging at him, itchy all over, making him so crazy he wants to rip out his hair kind of question, is if the way you smile when you’re together - _bright_ and _beautiful_ the immediate words that come to mind, accompanied by a cascade of _alluring_ and _lovely_ and _unfaltering_ , like every luminous strand of the sun took that moment to stitch themselves into your face - is reserved just for him. 

Jaehyun is instantly overwhelmed during his first look around at the store. There’s glittering, expensive things everywhere - sapphires on a mannequin head, lofting displays of thick golden chains, a pair of earrings that surely cost a million dollars by the size of the pearls dangling from there, blood red rubies taking up space in twenty four carat gold cuff links. He takes a deep lungful of air, like there’s suddenly not enough oxygen and the molecules left are mocking him for even having this idea in the first place. He’d feel inclined to agree.

“Whatcha looking at!”

Jaehyun nearly jumps a foot in the air at the surprise exclamation and spins in place to see Jeno watching him curiously, half a pretzel stuffed in his mouth. He places a nervous hand against the breadth of his chest, finding his heartbeat zipping along like the lead car at a motocross race. He’s not entirely sure it’s just from the startle. 

“God! Don’t do that,” Jaehyun gasps, subtly massaging his torso to try and calm down. That is to no avail, the anxiety rising only leads to his body reacting in a similar manner, voice cracking as he admits, “I have no idea what I’m doing. Girls like jewelry, no?”

“I wouldn’t know, I’ve never had a girl to give a gift to,” Jeno says, quite innocently, as he looks around, dipping another pretzel piece in the icing.

Would you hate everything in here? He thinks to the usual image he has of you, bent over your work, hair spilling everywhere as your mouth pinches in concentration. There’s never been a slip of jewelry by your ears or neck. You’ve spent many a time griping about things getting in the way of your hands while you worked, so much so that you'd had Yuta's old Christmas gift of a daisy chain bracelet made into a pin. Ugh. Why did he even have this idea. 

He thinks out loud to run through the possibilities one more time, finding it more and more futile that he’ll find anything for you in here, “She doesn’t have her ears pierced, earrings are out of the question. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her wear a necklace. She doesn’t like things getting in the way while she sews, so no bracelets. Which leaves…”

“You’re going to get y/n a _diamond ring?_ ”

In his misery, Jaehyun has come to lean against a glass case, hands propped up above a glittering grotto of high end trinkets. But he doesn’t realize he’s been intently staring at something before Jeno’s chirp of astonishment. He blinks his eyes once more, and the scene that had been previously blacked out in the middle of his stress attack comes into focus. The case he’s leaning on is filled with row after row of diamond engagement rings, bold and gaudy and shining with lofty, lovely intent. 

“No! No,” Jaehyun immediately denies, because that had never been anything he was intending. But Jeno is silent and his damn heart is still somehow racing, and the tiny question comes out barely audible, “Should I?”

Would you… would you like an engagement ring?

“I don’t think so," Jeno hums after a pause. He then shoots Jaehyun a total shit eating grin, one that he’d otherwise beat up the kid for if he wasn’t a teen or his best friend’s brother, and drawls, “Unless you’re trying to go for the other meaning of a diamond ring?”

“What! No. No, no. Where are you getting all these ideas?!” Jaehyun exclaims, all his nervous energy now projecting back onto Jeno. He throws his hands in the air, then begins to pace, hands running ragged through his hair as he mutters, “Never mind, this is fucking crazy. This is so fucking crazy.”

You’re not dating, you’re not. But now he can’t get the image out of his head, that smile of yours brought about by a ring from this case.

“I think you should do it.”

“What, you do? I thought you said—,”

Jaehyun practically has whiplash with all the back and forth Jeno’s dragging him through, the egging on, the denial, the approval, none of it helping the pounding in his head. 

“Minmin and Le would probably die if I got you to get y/n a ring, you know. They’re obsessed with her,” Jeno jokes with a knowing grin, his best friends’ childish crushes no secret with the elder group of friends. “They spent all of today plotting how they were going to give her their championship rings when we win in the spring.”

And Jaehyun knows there’s something really wrong with him when Jeno says that. Because before, he would’ve cackled, his silvery laugh would’ve filled this store up with how funny he found that, those fifteen year olds stopping at nothing to charm you their way. But this time, he’s only filled with this certain kind of guilty jealousy, like he knows that he shouldn’t be jealous of kids, but well. Now that he’s had the idea, he kind of wants to be the first. 

“You want me to get her a ring to make some fifteen year old kids jealous,” he repeats dully, trying to inject some enthusiasm into his voice but failing hard.

Jeno is laughing, see? Jaehyun is so fucked, “I mean, yes, because that’s hilarious. But that doesn’t have to be the only reason to buy her a ring.” He wiggles his eyebrows in Jaehyun’s direction, a mile a minute with his saucy implication. The only reason to get a ring for a girl, really, is to get engaged. Mark might be able to pass it off under the guise of it being some best friends bullshit, but Jaehyun doesn’t have that excuse. It’d be all in or nothing.

And because he doesn’t know yet if you’re at that point, he has to deny it, “Oh, come off it. She’s my friend.”

“She’s also Mark’s friend, but we were going to make a pressed book of her favorite flowers, not buy a fat, honking diamond,” Jeno points out, with a haughty air because he knows he has the upper hand. “She would hate it anyways, idiot.”

“She would hate a ring?” Jaehyun whispers, almost embarrassed that he’s reacted in this instinctual way. 

“She would hate _that_ ring,” Jeno corrects. Jaehyun peers back down to the one piece of jewelry that’s in his direct line of sight, and even he internally cringes. It’s this fat, ugly thing, with a teardrop diamond that could kill a small animal. This wouldn’t look good on anyone, let alone on your talented finger. He slumps back down, dejected, and then he hears Jeno again, a bit softer this time, “You know her better than anyone. She likes the simple stuff, she never wears any of the designer stuff that Dad gets us.”

That’s more than just egging him on, that’s actual legitimate encouragement. 

In a hurry, like this is the most important task he’ll ever undertake, Jaehyun starts scanning the rows of jewelry. Some are even bigger than that one he hated, some are tiny. He’s fairly certain you wouldn’t like the rose gold, and he’s way too uppity to stoop to cubic zirconia. Silver might be nice, but everything about you is sunshine to him, and it's not like he hasn't noticed you sew with golden thread more than any other color. He had the dumb thought once, that you did this just because it matched his eyes, but he’d shuddered so hard with embarrassment right after he’d forced himself never to think of that again.

On the second to last row from the front though, he sees it, and immediately hones right in, “That. Something like that?”

Jeno stands on his tiptoes to peer over Jaehyun’s shoulder, then goes contemplatively quiet before humming, “Mmmmm, yeah. That’s very her. Maybe you’re not an idiot after all.”

The ring really should’ve been somewhere else - not trapped along this glitzy excess, but placed upon a lofty pedestal where only those worthy enough could look. It is nothing similar to its companions, only a modest loop of elegant, shimmery gold. But whoever has crafted this piece took the utmost care to whittle and press the metal into a lifelike spread of two oak leaves twisted towards each other, each leaf crack and vein fantastically detailed. In the very center of each leaf is one sweet, demure dot of a sparkling diamond.

The fantasy is instantaneous. It’s simply not hard for him to picture, because he’s always sort of had it in the back of his mind. You’d forget all about the fancy sewing machine when he pulled this out. That pink flush of your cheeks would come about for the first time because of him and not a bad strike call. Maybe it’d even dust down your neck, center on the spot right by your collarbone that always gets extra red. Your hand would cover your mouth like it does when something particularly surprising ensnares your attention, your shoulders would shimmy in suppressed delight like he’s the chords of your favorite song.

“Jae. Jae?! Hello?”

You’d wear it right away, of course you would. He’d gotten you a Bats jersey for your graduation from Neozone U _(he’d chipped in the most, he’ll lord it over the other three forever)_ , and you’d put it on over your white dress without a care. You'd probably not understand at first, you’d take it and put it on the wrong finger, your index finger, or maybe the ring finger on your right hand. You'd admire it, and offer up a kind platitude, take a picture to send to your other friends. Then, it would all be up to him to explain. To gently take your hand in his and move the ring over to the left side, let his heart fly free with the craziest, most unrealistic, truest thing he swears he’s ever felt, _Y_ _ou should wear it on this hand, because well. That’s what you do when you love someone._

“Uh, he wants that one. Yeah, the leaf one. Sorry, I’d pay, but I’m only fifteen. Jaehyun!”

_Because I really do. I really do think I love you._

It takes Jeno physically shoving Jaehyun’s arm to bring him out of the daydream. He’s in a total daze when he glances around, half drunk on the image of you and half irked he couldn’t indulge in it much longer, “What!”

The polite, older salesman bows his head in greeting and makes a gesture towards the ring. “Do you want to take a look at the ring closely, or would you just like to purchase it, sir?”

Jaehyun’s never been more sure of anything. “I’m just going to buy it. How much?”

“This comes out to a total of two thousand nine hundred and forty dollars.”

Jeno chokes over the last piece of his pretzel, hacking crumbs everywhere at the egregious price of jewelry, the Vice Premier’s strong values shining through in his son. Jaehyun doesn’t pay much heed to that extreme reaction, nor really registers the extent of the price that had garnered that reaction. He wants to get back to that one tableau of you, wearing his ring. He should be realistic, and accept that notion that you wouldn’t say it right away, maybe wouldn't ever. But god, he’s at the point where he’s foolishly hoping that you will. 

_I love you too, Jae. I always have._

“Fine, just put it on my card,” he responds right away, handing over the piece of plastic from his wallet. And really, the sight of you in the picture he’s hidden away in there - careful to never expose it to anyone because he wants it just to himself - is what convinces him that there’s no other option but buying this ring. 

“You’re going to spend like three thousand dollars on this,” Jeno asks, voice deadpan and serious like he’s the adult here.

“I’d spend all my money on it if I had to,” Jaehyun murmurs, absentminded now as he aimlessly scrolls back and forth on the conversation that’s been lost in the past few minutes.  
  


> [7:25 pm] **my favorite neighbor ;)** : everything ok w the kid?  
>  [7:40 pm] **jhj** : yup, will not shut up about how he wanted you to come instead  
>  [7:57 pm] **my favorite neighbor ;)** : sorryyyyyyyy. i just got in the zone and wanted to finish  
>  [7:58 pm] **jhj** : when will you tell me what you’re making  
>  [7:58 pm] **my favorite neighbor ;)** : you’ll see when you see aka at the ceremony  
>  [7:58 pm] **jhj** : make sure your cabbage leaves are aligned  
>  [7:59 pm] **my favorite neighbor ;)** : ha ha very funny  
>  [7:58 pm] **jhj** : kidding. remember what i said?  
>  [7:59 pm] **my favorite neighbor ;)** : saying my dress is going to be beautiful without having seen it is def the corniest shit uve ever said  
>  [7:59 pm] **my favorite neighbor ;)** : but thanks. ull be very handsome im sure. all the girls will want to steal a dance

Jaehyun has so much to do before the ceremony. He has to pick the perfect suit and tame the curly mop into something proper, and above all else, make sure his lion tie is neatly pressed so he can wear it with utmost pride. _Oh this old thing?_ he'd say if he were asked, _my neighbor gave it to me, because she only sews for people she loves._ Last but not least, he might have to write out a formal apology to Changmin’s girlfriend, because he knows already that she won’t be the most beautiful girl at her own ceremony. Not by a long shot.

And while he's certain the girls of Neozone will flock to him that night, there’s really only one he wants to dance with. 

—

It’s official. Jaehyun has a crush. 

Jeno used to think Jaehyun was not an obvious man, but this is something else entirely. He’s gone completely loopy ever since they started discussing the ring, in a fog of distraction he never descends into as sharp and focused as he usually is. All signs of a big, fat crush. Jaemin had those signs before he asked his girlfriend out, but Jaehyun is taking it to the maximum. Johnny’s shadowbox was maybe a hundred dollars at most. This is a clear one up, b ut not in a totally bad way. That ring is actually kind of… pretty, if Jeno is being honest. Almost like they’d taken a leaf you sewed and plopped it right onto the trinket. He knows you’ve given and given and given and never asked for anything in return, not like this. You deserve it.

Because of that, Jeno starts looking through his own wallet. He has only one solitary twenty dollar bill tucked in the money pocket, but it will have to do. He calls to get the gentleman’s attention from where he’s about to ring up Jaehyun’s credit card, “Excuse me, sir.”

“Yes?” the man says as he peeks over his shoulder, a bit amused to see a kid like Jeno there, trying to get involved.

Jeno hands out the bill and softly inquires, “I only have this, but could you include it in the payment method too?” Though it's not much, he's sticking to his guns. He's not going to ask his dad for any money this year, he's old enough to pay for things on his own now. He's dutifully saved this money after winning a bet with Felix on a basketball game.

The salesman grins, pleased he’ll make a fat commission off the sale, but mostly thoroughly entertained by this. He snatches up the single leaflet, then docks the price to two thousand nine hundred and twenty.

“You’re chipping in?” Jaehyun asks, nose crinkled in fond amusement, first signs of life he’s shown. 

“Y/n’s my favorite, sorry,” Jenoconfesses, with full honesty. “This is going to make her happy, and I want to know I at least played a part in it.”

“I think she’s going to love your gift more,” Jaehyun says, but he’s really just offering the expected, civil concession.

Jeno is still going to make his pressed flower book.They’ve had the bluebells and the zinnias for some time, he stole a bunch of stellaria from last time he was at your house, and his dad gave up a yellow tulip from his personal garden. Mark bought a bouquet of roses because he insisted it wouldn't be the same without them, then spent a whole bunch of time researching flowers that grew in Zero Mile to include. Jeno is sure you’ll tear up and you’ll hug him and be full of gratitude for his little snippet of the beauty of your life. 

He is old enough, though, to know a ring is totally different. 

And while Jeno has no proof that you return his brother’s best friend’s crush, he’s not an idiot. There’s all the time you spend together, you only trusting Jaehyun with your favors, with picking Jeno up from baseball. There have been too many times where you light up with an idea of something to make him, then quickly tack on an amendment so that everyone else gets one, too. Mark complains that you only have peach beer in your fridge, the kind that’s Jaehyun’s favorite but that the others only tolerate. And once, only once - on a day when all six of you were curled up in the mansion’s theater, watching a baseball game on the big screen - he swore he saw you staring at Jaehyun when the man wasn’t looking. Not a full stare, not really, just a moment when Jaehyun stood up in glee that V Kim hit a home run, and your eyes followed him instead of the game, like that was the only thing they wanted to do. 

Jeno decides then to do his own sleuthing at the ceremony. Suss it out one by one, which of Mark’s friends you don’t like as more than a friend. He’s pretty sure he’ll find the same answer when all is said and done, when he's combed through all the facts available. What choice does he have but be utterly obnoxious bothering you about it? You’ll definitely won’t tell him unless you’re forced to.

But if he’s right about this, getting a ring from Jaehyun is going to make you so, so happy. And in the five years he’s known you, all Jeno really wanted is for you to be happy. His dad has told him a lot about your story, what you’ve been through, how lucky he’s gotten to have you in his life, and truly, all he could ever want is your happiness. For a fifteen year old, that was quite a hefty conclusion to reach, but it wasn’t hard. Because he knows that’s all you want for him in return.

“Just make sure you tell her when you give it to her, that I helped,” Jeno gently ribs, wearing a grin as he nudges his buddy in the side.

Jaehyun smiles, more akin to a blinding beam, the sun taking up all the little spaces in his form, and he nods. “Will do, kid. Thanks.”

Jeno knows Jaehyun will do no such thing. A proposal is not the kind of moment to bring up your friend's kid brother. He will be so swept up in the moment, consumed by his nerves, then lost in the sound of your laughter and enchanted by the way you'll probably - ew - kiss him. Jaehyun will forget to say anything, and Jeno won’t be a single bit mad about it, because it will have all been worth it. May even be the best twenty dollars he'll ever spend.

** fin. **


End file.
